


Unbound

by audrheology



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Confessions, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 20:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17290706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audrheology/pseuds/audrheology
Summary: Robin kissed him four days ago. Chrom has avoided him since.





	Unbound

**Author's Note:**

> I got obsessed with chrobin for no reason like a month ago, am a sucker for confession fics, and wrote this in a blind frenzy. Some dialogue obviously taken from the Chrom/f!Robin S support. Enjoy!

Robin was careful. He knew with certainty that he was guarded, calculating, and logical when it came to his problem with Chrom. He knew because he’d been dealing with it a long time, practically since the prince pulled Robin to his feet in that field. He captured his heart with a charming grin and his stupid heroism and it was … embarrassing, in retrospect, the speed with which Robin felt his eyes linger, his heart stammer, his thoughts drifting to his friend in his few quiet moments.

 

Like any good friend and tactician, he dutifully ignored it by keeping his hands to himself, his smiles polite and guarded, his looks amicable but never adoring. Robin was content to be Chrom’s right-hand man until one or both of them was stricken down, truly. He couldn’t and wouldn’t desire more, not when they had a war to fight, not from a man of Chrom’s station.

 

And it wasn’t like Robin to slip up. In his defence, the battle had been too close, surrounded on all sides, the Shepherds sustaining more injuries than Robin even wanted to know about. By the end of it, his exhausted body crackled with spent electricity, spurred by adrenaline which refused to leave his system. Blood oozed slowly from a cut on his face, and Robin felt his white hair practically stand on end as he watched the woman who nearly killed him fall dead a few yards away. Chrom was at his back, panting, Falchion stained red as his eyes followed the last of their foes as they retreated over the crest of the hill.

 

A beat, then a massive eruption of cheers around them. Falchion clattered to the ground as Chrom whirred around to face Robin, arms encircling the other man and nearly lifting him from the ground as Robin's own sword and tome fell to the dirt. Simultaneously, they burst into relieved laughter and didn’t say anything. Feeling each other's breath and pulse was enough assurance that the other was okay.

 

Robin kissed him, then. He thinks. His memory of the actual moment isn’t clear, but he knows their mouths collided around a shared laugh and any chance of Chrom reading it as a celebratory, platonic moment died when a shaky sigh escaped Robins mouth, his weak arms clutching the back of Chrom’s head as he stood on his toes and deepened the kiss. Robin’s veins crackled with the same electricity as before, and when Chrom pulled back abruptly, Robin had to fight his instinct to pull him into another kiss.

 

If he had his wits about him, maybe Robin could have saved it with a joke or a cheer or _something_ , but he just stared at Chrom, feeling horror creep onto his face as the prince remained completely gobsmacked, frozen, for several moments. Then, Chrom’s whole body tensed, mirroring the alarm and dread Robin felt. He wanted to sink into a hole as Chrom jerked his body from his arms. He crossed a line.

 

Thankfully, seconds later Lisa bowled Chrom over in a way that Robin would have found hilarious in another context, crying about how happy she was that he made it, how stupid he was to leave her sight, the usual.

 

Sully was there suddenly and punched Robin’s arm, hard, which forced him out of his trance. Sumia appeared behind her, beaming, congratulating him on a battle well won. He responded in turn, though he couldn’t recall the details of the conversation, and gladly let his companion separate him from Chrom. He needed to plan damage control, and he couldn’t do that spellbound by the fear in Chrom’s eyes.

 

This was four days ago. Chrom was avoiding him, and though Robin saw him at meals and in passing the man couldn’t meet his gaze, let alone say a word to him. The others noticed too, Gaius smirking and wondering what he’d done to piss off Blue, Tharja appearing late one evening, asking if Chrom needed to be taught a lesson and sending a shiver though Robin's bones. Three restless nights and Robin had enough. Normally, he would never have entered Chrom’s tent unannounced, but this matter needed to be resolved, now.

 

Robin waited until shortly after dinner, when he and Chrom would normally meet to discuss strategy for the upcoming day. He had a hunch the prince was brooding alone in his tent, and he was right. Robin shouldered his way inside and Chrom was hunched over his desk, lamplight illuminating papers sprawling around him.

 

“Chrom.” The prince froze at the sound of his name.

 

“Robin-” Their eyes met as Chrom stood up and whirled around, and for a few moments, he seemed to panic silently, obviously wanting to be anywhere but there. “I, you-”

 

Robin held up a hand to silence him. “Chrom, I need to apologize for my inappropriate behaviour after our last battle.” He said the words cooly and quickly like he was worried Chrom would try to escape. Robin lowered his gaze. “It was not only inappropriate as your chief tactician, but also your friend. We need to work together for our friends and for the future of Ylisse, which we cannot do because of the undo tension I have caused.” Robin closed his eyes, willing his voice to remain steady and calm. “I hope you can forgive me, as you are my closest friend and it would be difficult to lose you.”

 

Robin didn’t look at Chrom until he felt the man’s hands gently, urgently, grab his arms. His gaze snapped up Chrom’s and his breath caught at the desperation and confusion he saw there.

 

“Robin, I don’t understand. _I_ am the one who kissed _you_ ,” Oh, so, that’s why that detail was confusing to Robin. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to properly apologize. You… you looked so horrified, I was terrified I ruined everything.” His grip tightened, “Robin, I am so sorry for overstepping my bounds, but you need to know that I … I-”

 

Robin’s hands grasped his bare forearms like he was bracing himself and trying to keep them both from collapsing. In a way, he was. His next words burst from him as the reality of the situation clicked and threatened to overwhelm him. “I … I’m sorry. I can’t. This is ... I want…” Blood rushed in his ears and he couldn’t find the words. He buried these feelings and left them to rot and had never, ever let himself entertain the possibility of speaking them aloud. His voice broke shamefully.  “You. I want you, Chrom, of course I do. I love-”

 

He let his sentence die in his clumsy mouth. That was, that was too much, Chrom didn’t, couldn’t feel as deeply as Robin did. He reared back with gritted teeth, fully prepared flee like Chrom had, but the prince knew. He knew, and he caught Robin before he could twist around, pulling him close and capturing his lips with his own.

 

It was so much worse than the first time, all teeth and spit and clumsiness, and Chrom practically missed his mouth but Robin didn’t care at all. He was fully prepared to readjust, melt into Chrom’s arms, and stay there forever, but he pulled away after what felt like a fraction of a moment and Robin, though he was spellbound after wanting it for so long, felt like that hardly counted as a kiss at all.

 

“Robin, somehow you’re the both smartest and stupidest man I know.” Chrom looked as flustered as Robin felt. “Obviously, your feelings are returned.”

 

“What do you mean, _obviously_?” The words rang sharp and disbelieving, accusatory.

 

Chrom was taken aback, floundering before blurting, “How could I not fall in love with a man so, so intelligent, so compassionate, and-”  one hand cupped Robin’s face and the other clasped his shoulder, tone softening, “- devoted. Robin, the more I think of my future, the more certain I am I want you always at my side. Not … not as a friend, though I cherish you as one, but as a husband-” Chrom’s breath stopped at this word and so did Robin’s. His face felt like it would burst into flame. Chrom pressed on, “You’re the wind at my back, the sword at my side, and  I… I want to build something great with you.”

 

Robin didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have grandiose, poetic words to return, though the thought of Chrom rehearsing a mini-monologue warmed his heart. He wanted to tell Chrom of all the evenings he spent lost, imagining a future with him, of all the times he wanted desperately to touch, to hold, to kiss him, of the countless battles when an injury or near-fatal blow to Chrom set Robin’s blood on fire. He wanted Chrom to know how deeply he felt, but Robin couldn’t find the words. He decided that was alright, he had a lifetime to prove it to him.

 

“... After the battle,” Robin said instead, after a long silence which was surely unbearable to Chrom. and felt his own lips twist into a wry smile. He looked up at Chrom and leaned his head into his hand, and felt giddy with the realization that he was actually flirting, with Chrom, _in real life_. “... was that your first kiss?”

 

“Spirits.” Chrom’s heard fell to where Robin’s neck met his shoulder. “I bear my heart and _that’s_ your response?” Robin laughed, loudly, freely, and felt, for the first time, he could be his full, unguarded self.


End file.
